Iraq’s No 2 discusses his recipe for a World Cup shock, the players’ singing and his time assisting Alex Ferguson at Manchester United

Iraq’s journey to their first World Cup finals tournament in 40 years involved sacrifices unmatched by any other side. After 20 qualifiers, the team faced a decisive playoff in the Mexican city of Monterrey but, with Iraq dragged into the Middle East war and airspace closed, several staff and players had an arduous job getting there.

“They had to travel from different cities to Baghdad by car or bus,” says René Meulensteen, the assistant to Iraq’s head coach, Graham Arnold. “Some of those journeys took up to eight hours. Then, from Baghdad they travelled roughly 15 hours on bumpy roads to Amman, in Jordan, where occasional flights were still operating. The other Asian‑based players made their own way to Amman, so they could all travel together.”